THE SABBATH IN ENGLAND
1. Alsop, Mrs. Ann. England has not been without able women in the
ranks of Sabbath defenders. Among these we find Mrs. Ann Alsop, a member of the
Natton Seventh-day Baptist Church. The Rev. T. Edmonds published "A
Scriptural presentation of the Abolition of the Fourth Commandment far as it
relates to a particular day; and a Vindication of their conduct who observe the
first day as their Sabbath." To this writing, Mrs. Alsop replied, in 1801,
in a book entitled, remarks on the Rev. T. Edmond's pamphlet, etc., and an
attempt to vindicate their conduct who observe the seventh-day Sabbath
according to the express words of the Fourth Commandment." This work was
written with such ability and vigor as to call forth a reply the same year in
the form of "A Further Consideration of the Arguments of the
Sabbatarians." Mrs. Alsop's defense of the Sabbath was considered worthy
of notice by Robert Cox in his "Literature of the Sabbath Question,"
vol. II., p. 409.
2. Bailey, Nathanael. Nathanael Bailey was
an eminent English philologist and lexicographer, whose "Universal
Etymological English Dictionary," published in 1721, was the first English
dictionary which aimed at completeness. His work was a great improvement on
anything of the kind which had preceded it, and formed the real basis of Dr.
Samuel Johnson's great work published in 1755. Bailey was a schoolteacher near
London, and the author of several educational works, among which was a
"Dictionarium Domesticum." He was a worth member of the Mill Yard
Seventh-day Baptist Church. He died June 27, 1742.
3. Bampfield, Francis. Francis Bampfield descended from a distinguished
family in Devonshire, England. He was born in 1615, the third son of James (or John)
Bampfield. His brother Thomas was at one time Speaker of Parliament under
Cromwell. In his 16th year he became a student in Wadham College, Oxford. He
finished his course in College in 1638, with the degree of M. A. His reputation
was that of a "scholarly man, and one of the most celebrated preachers in
the West of England." He prepared for the ministry of the Established
Church, and was ordained deacon by Bishop Hall, and elder by Bishop Skinner.
His first settlement was in the parish of Rampisham, Dorsetshire, about 1640.
About 1653 he removed to the parish of Sherborne, and remained here until
ejected by the Act of Conformity in 1662. He could not conscientiously take the
oath of allegiance, not because of any disloyalty, but because he believed all
oaths to be in violation of the teachings of Jesus. After his ejection, he
preached in his own hired house at Sherborne for about one month, when he and
twenty-six others who were holding a meeting were arrested and imprisoned in
one room with a single bed; they were soon released on bail. Not long after
this he was again arrested and put in Dorchester jail, where he spent nearly
nine years (from 1662 to 1671). Here be preached almost daily; and Armitage
says, "he not only preached but formed a church within the prison
walls." This was a Seventh-day Baptist Church, for soon after entering
that prison he embraced the Sabbath doctrine and that of believer's baptism.
After a short release, he was imprisoned in Salisbury (Wiltshire) for about
eighteen months, which, he says, "filled up my ten days of tribulation in
the letter of it- Rev. 2:10." On his release from Salisbury prison he came
to London and labored in the vicinity of Bethnal Green in the East of London.
A few Sabbath-keepers met with him in his
own house for about a year, and on March 5, 1676, he organized a church, which,
after the choice by lot of a place of worship, was known as Pinner's Hall
Seventh-day Baptist Church. The reason for this separate organization was in
the fact that Mr. Bampfield differed from the Mill Yard Church on the subject
of Calvinism.
From London he was sent by his church as a
special messenger "to the Sabbath churches in Wiltshire, Hampshire,
Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire, and Berkshire, which was undertaken by him, and
prospered with desired success, the report whereof, at his return, caused joy
to all the brethren and sisters in fellowship." He and his church sent a
letter of "Brotherly love," etc., to all Sabbath-keeping churches,
including those of Holland and New England. He also wisely advocated a
"Yearly Meeting of all Seventh-day Baptist Churches."
Three times, while preaching in Pinner's
Hall, he was arrested. The first was Dec. 17, 1682. On his second arrest, he
was sent to Newgate from Dec. 24, 1682, to August 12, 1683. The last time, as
he was led thru the streets, one said, "See how he walks with his Bible in
his hand like one of the old martyrs." He could not long endure the cold
and damp of Newgate, but died here, Feb. 16, 1684, at the age of sixty eight
years. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. John Collins, a fellow
prisoner; and his remains were interred in the burying ground of the Baptist
Church in Glass-house Yard, Goswell street, London.
He published something like nine or ten
books, which was doing well considering his troubled life, and his constant
preaching in prison and out. Two of his works are especially mentioned in Cox's
"Sabbath Literature:"- In 1672 he published "The Judgment of Mr.
Francis Bampfield, late Minister of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, for the
Observation of the Jewish or seventh-day Sabbath; with his reasons and
Scriptures for the same: Sent in a letter to Mr. Ben of Dorchester."
In 1677 he sent forth a little work of 149
pages, with the title in both Greek and Latin, "The Seventh-day Sabbath
the Desirable Day," etc.
The character of this eminent servant of God
was remarkable for purity, generosity and devotion. At Rampisham he spent his
entire income from the Church for Bibles and religious books for the poor, in
providing work for those able work, and in giving alms to those who could not
labor. He was regarded as "above all things a living servant of
Jesus." The frowns and smiles of men were vainly used to turn him from his
Master. Worldly losses and bodily suffering appeared to him as trifles compared
to the supreme felicity of a conscience void of offense before God. "He
was a giant in defense of truth, and a devout man full of the Holy
Spirit."
4. Bampfield, Thomas. Thomas Bampfield appears less prominently in history
than his brother Francis, because not involved in the ecclesiastical
controversies of his day, as was his brother; but he was not less eminent in
his profession, that of the Law- having been the last Speaker of the
Commonwealth, in 1659. Nor was he less able as a defender of the Sabbath.
It is supposed probable that he was
converted to the Sabbath thru the little book, "An Appeal to the
Consciences of the Chief Magistrates of this Commonwealth touching the
Sabbath-day," by W. Saller and J. Spittlehouse, 1657; and that he was the
means of the conversion of his brother Francis.
His first book, "An Enquiry whether the
Fourth Commandment be repealed or altered appeared in 1692, and was immediately
answered by John Wallis, D. D., Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford,
in a book entitled, "A Defense of the Christian Sabbath: In answer to a
treatise of Mr. Thomas Bampfield pleading for Saturday Sabbath." The next
year Bampfield issued "A reply to Dr. Wallis, his Discourse concerning the
Christian Sabbath;" to which Wallis rejoined in 1694.
Mr. Bampfield held that Jesus Christ, the
Jehovah of the Old Testament, instituted and sanctified the Sabbath-day in the
beginning, before the fall of man; that the Sabbath was not only a seventh day,
but the seventh day, and was so to continue as long as the world lasts;
that the Sabbath was binding upon the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and that it
was always to begin at sunset. He affirmed that the Saturday-Sabbath was
observed in England till the reign of Edward VI., 1537-1553, when the first act
of Parliament for the observance of the Lord's Day was passed. Mr. Bampfield
also contended that public worship should not be attended more than once on the
Sabbath Day. His statement as to the observance of the Sabbath in England is in
harmony with the facts of history as given in the first part of this article.
During the time he was Recorder of Exeter, he voluntarily devoted the income of
his office to the poor of that city. He was born in 1659 (possibly 1654) and
died in 1693.
5. Begg, James A. James A. Begg was
born in Paisley, Scotland, at the beginning of the nineteenth century and died
Jan. 3rd, 1869. We know of Mr. Begg thru his correspondence with the Sabbath
Recorder, for nearly twenty-five years. His first letter to Rev. George B.
Utter, editor of the Recorder, was dated at 35 Argyll Arcade, Glasgow,
Scotland, April 1st, 1845. Elder Utter speaks of him as having embraced the
Sabbath a dozen years before that date. He and three others were baptized at
Glasgow, by Elder Joseph W. Morton about 1853.
He was the author of several valuable works
on the subject of prophecy, and was a staunch defender of the Sabbath, both
with voice and pen. Cox's "Literature of the Sabbath Question"
mentions his work entitled, "An Examination of the Authority for the
Change of the Weekly Sabbath at The Resurrection of Christ; Proving that the
practice of the church in substituting the First day of the week for the
appointed Seventh day is unsanctioned by the New Testament Scriptures," by
James A. Begg. Glasgow, 1851. This book is also noticed in Kitto's
"Journal of Sacred Literature", for Oct. 1851. These notices by
opponents indicate the value of the work.
In the Sabbath Recorder of May 13 and
20, 1869, is a memorial sermon for Mr. Begg, preached by William Fulton. His
text was Psa. 119: 97. He spoke: 1st, of his love for the Bible; 2nd, What he
believed the Bible taught respecting the Gospel of the Son of God; 3rd, His
understanding of the Bible in relation to the subject of prophecy; 4th, His
view of the bible in its bearing on the signs of the times; 5th, The preacher's
knowledge of him as an eminent scholar, and a true man. He stated that Mr. Begg
kept the Sabbath to the day of his death.
6. Belcher, John. John Belcher, son of Rev. William Belcher, a Puritan
preacher of London, was pastor of the Bell Lane (London) Seventh Day church as
early as 1668, when he and his church addressed a letter to the Sabbath-keepers
of Newport, New England. He assisted at the ordination of Joseph Stennett,
March 4, 1690, at Pinner's Hall, and delivered one of the exhortations. He died
in March, 1695, and Joseph Stennett preached his funeral sermon, April 1st,
from 2 Cor. 5: 4, under the title, "The groans of a saint tinder the
burden of a mortal body;" the sermon is to be found in the "Life and
Works of Joseph Stennett," and was also published separately in 1695.
7. Black, William H. Wm. H. Black was a
convert to the Sabbath, who began to keep the seventh-day, Dec. 30, 1837. He
was ordained to the ministry, Nov. 9, 1843, by the Rev. J. B. Shenstone and
five others. He was the able pastor of the Mill Yard Church from 1840 to his
death in 1872. Dr. Black was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians, and is
referred to as "the learned antiquary." Robert Cox speaks of him as
"my talented antiquarian friend who preaches to a little family on the
Jewish Sabbath."
Dr. Black was a vigorous defender of the
Sabbath, publishing periodicals and books upon the subject. In 1838-9 he sent
out, "Doubts on the authority of what is commonly called the Christian
Sabbath:" "Thirty-two reasons for keeping holy the seventh-day of the
week as the true and only Christian Sabbath;" and a number of others. In
1848-49-50, he published "The scriptural calendar and chronological
reformer." After his death several of his works were published by his
son-in-law, Dr. Wm. M. Jones.
8. Boston, Rev. Thomas. We know but very little of Mr. Boston, but the little
we know entitles him to mention here. He was an elder of the Natton Church and
a co-laborer with Philip Jones. He was living in 1694, and was a faithful
keeper and defender of the truth.
9. Brabourne, Theophilus. Theophilus Brabourne was born at Norwich, Norfolk, in
1590; for he writes in 1654, in his answer to Cawdrey, page 75, "I am
sixty-four years age." The time of his death is not known, but he was
living in 1671, which would make him over eighty years old at that date.
He was a learned minister of the Established
Church, but probably founded a Seventh-day Baptist Church at Norwich of which
he was pastor, and to the poor of which he willed ten pounds. Robert Cox says
of him that he was "a much able writer than Trask, and may be regarded as
the founder in England of the sect at first known as Sabbatarians, but now
calling themselves Seventh-day Baptists."
Between the years 1626 and 1659 he published
four books upon the Sabbath question. In 1628 appeared the first, "A
Discourse upon the Sabbath-day," arguing that the Lord's Day is not the
Sabbath by Divine Institution; but that the Seventh-day Sabbath is now in
force. However, he exhorted that "there be no Rent from our Church."
In 1630 he issued a more complete work, of which a second edition was printed
in 1632, entitled, "A Defense of that most ancient and sacred ordinance of
God, the Sabbath Day."
Such was the quality of this work, so able
and strong its arguments, that the King appointed one of his most talented
bishops, Francis White, to answer it; which he attempted to do in "A
Treatise on the Sabbath-day, Containing a Defense of Orthodoxal Doctrine of the
Church of England, against Sabbatarian Novelty." Also, because Mr.
Brabourne's book considered heretical and calculated to do much mischief,
because he had been so bold as to dedicate it to the King (Charles I) himself,
he was summoned before the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and the Court of High
Commission, many other eminent persons being present at his trial. Such
arguments and persuasions were brought to bear upon him, that for the moment he
wavered, signed a recantation, and returned to the Church, "possibly to
regain his liberty, as he appears to have retained his views."
In 1654 he published a work which plainly
showed that he stood firmly by the Sabbath of the Bible; and whatever may be
the exact facts as to his recantation, so called, it is certain that "he
continued to maintain that if the Sabbatic institution was indeed moral and
perpetually binding, then his conclusion, that the seventh-day of the week ought
to be kept as the Sabbath, was necessary and irresistible."
His Sabbath steadfastness is manifested in
his last book, published in London in 1659, being an answer to two books on the
Sabbath: one by Mr. Ives, entitled, "Saturday no Sabbath Day;" and
the other by Mr. Warren, "The Jews' Sabbath Antiquated." As an index
of his mental vigor, as well as the strength of his character, we may give his
own words as contained in the preface to this last book:- "The soundness
and clearness of this my cause giveth me good hope that God will enlighten them
(the magistrates) with it and so incline their hearts unto mercy. But if not,
since I verily believe and know it to be a truth, and my duty not to smother
it, and suffer it to die with me, I have adventured to publish it and defend
it, saying with Queen Esther, 'If I perish, I perish;' and with the Apostle
Paul, 'neither is my life dear unto me, so that I may fulfill my course with
joy' What a corrosive would it prove to my conscience, on my deathbed, to call
to mind how I knew these things full well, but would not reveal them. How could
I say with St. Paul, that I had revealed the whole counsel of God, had kept
nothing back which was profitable? What hope could I then conceive that God
would open his gate of mercy to me, who, while I lived, would not open my mouth
for him?"
10. Brerewood, Edward. Edward Brerewood was a Professor in Gresham College,
London, who died in 1613. In 1611 he wrote a book entitled "A learned
Treatise of the Sabbath to Mr. Nicholas Byfield, preacher in Chester."
This seems not to have been published until 1630, sometime after the author's
death. He maintained that the Sabbath was a part of the moral law, and on that
account perpetual; and defied Mr. Byfield to prove his assertion that the Sabbath
had been "translated by the same authority that originally at first
commanded it." He referred to the fact that for centuries after Christ the
seventh-day alone was ever called the Sabbath, as disproving Mr. Byfield's
assumption that Christ referred to the first day and not the seventh in his
injunction to his disciples to pray that their flight might not be on the
Sabbath-day, when Jerusalem should be invested by her enemies.
Mr. Brerewood wrote "A Second Treatise
of the Sabbath, or an Explication of the Fourth Commandment," which was
published in 1632. In this he critically examined the Fourth Commandment, and
maintained the view that altho the celebration of the Lord's day hath warrant
of apostolic example that it may be done, warrant of commandment it hath not,
that it must be done."
A Life of Mr. Brerewood may be found in
Ward's "Lives of the Professors of Gresham College."
He was a man of ability and influence, and a
staunch defender of the Bible Sabbath. He was born in 1565 and died Nov. 14,
1613.
11. Broad, Thomas. Thomas Broad was born in 1577 and died in 1639. In
1621, he published "Three Sabbath Questions," a work which led
Brabourne to investigate the subject. The three questions were: 1st, What
should our meaning be, when, after the reading of the fourth commandment, we
pray, Lord, incline our hearts to keep this law? Second, How shall the Fourth
Commandment, being delivered in such form of words, bind us to sanctify any day
but only the Seventh, the day wherein God rested, and which the Jews sanctified?
Third, How shall it appear to be a law of nature to sanctify one day in every
week?
12. Burnside, Robert. Robert Burnside belonged to a Sabbath-keeping family,
and himself became a member of the church in 1776. He was educated for the
ministry at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and became pastor of the Pinner's Hall
Seventh-day Baptist Church (London) in 1785, and continued in this position
until his death in 1826. Much of his time was devoted to instructing the children
in families of wealth and position. In 1805 he published "Fruits of the
Spirit;" and in 1819, "Religions of Mankind," in two volumes 8
vo. In 1825 he sent out a work of 354 pages, entitled, "Remarks on the
Different Sentiments entertained in Christendom relative to the Weekly
Sabbath." This book contained thirteen chapters on the nature, the
obligation, the antiquity, the commencement and termination, and the supposed
repeal of the weekly Sabbath, etc., etc. Robert Cox says:- "The work is a
calm, clear and ample statement of the grounds on which this sect of Christians
keep Saturday as the Sabbath, and maintain that all who believe in a primeval
Sabbath-law and in the universal and perpetual obligation of the Decalogue are
bound to do the like."
13. Carlow, George. George Carlow was a member of the Seventh-day Baptist
Church at Woodbridge, Suffolk. On going to London, possibly to see to the
publication of a book, he took a letter of commendation to the Mill Yard
Church: hence his name appears upon the record of that church as a
"transient member." His book was published in 1724, with the title:-
"Truth defended, or Observations on Mr. Ward's expository discourses from
the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th verses of the 20th chapter of Exodus, concerning
the Sabbath." The book was re-published at Stonington, Conn., in 1802;
and, later, by the American Sabbath Tract Society of New York. "The whole
work is characterized by a spirit of evangelical piety and earnestness which
must make its influence powerful and salutary wherever read." Mr. Carlow
is described as a plain man, not schooled in logic, but learned in the
Scriptures.
14. Chamberlen,
Dr. Peter. Dr. Chamberlen was
born in 1601, baptized in 1648, began keeping the Sabbath about 1651, and died
in 1683. The termination of his name is variously given, as lain, laine, lane,
layne, lon. He wrote from 1642 to 1662 on medical and scientific subjects, and
on the Sabbath and baptism. He has been regarded as the pastor of Mill Yard
Church from 1651 to the time of his death; but whether he or the martyr, John
James, gathered this church, is uncertain. He appears as the leader of the
Whitchapel Congregation (the precursor of Mill Yard) in 1653, (Nov. 6.)
Dr. Chamberlen was
a graduate of Immanuel College, Cambridge, studied medicine and surgery at
Heidelberg and, Padua, and became senior doctor of both Oxford and Cambridge,
and was physician to three British Sovereigns. He was not only a voluminous
writer on the Sabbath question, but appears also as a co-operator with
Coppinger (one of Trask's followers), and Thomas Tillam, in a Sabbath
discussion against Jeremiah Ives.
15. Cooke, Henry. Henry Cooke succeeded John Belcher as pastor of Bell
Lane Seventh-day Baptist Church, London, in March, 1695. At the death of Cooke,
the Church merged with Pinner's Hall. Mr. Cooke was alive in London in 1704, as
he is known to have preached and published a sermon that year.
As he is said to have died August 2, ( New
Style, August 13) 1704, at Hochstadt, Germany, near which the battle of
Bleinheim was fought on that date, it was thought he might have been chaplain
or soldier in the British Army, and that he was killed in that action; but as
he is mentioned in Joseph Davis' will, made in 1706, and as his own will is
said to have been proven in 1707, he must have died that year.
16. Coppinger, Rev. Matthew. We know but little concerning Mr. Coppinger, but that
little is connected with his brave defense of the Sabbath. In 1659, he was
associated with Dr. Chamberlen and Thomas Tillam in a Sabbath discussion
against Jeremiah Ives. He is mentioned by Gilfillan as one among others who
"contended for the perpetuity of the Seventh-day Sabbath against the
Christian world."
17. Cornthwaite, Robert. Robert Cornthwaite was born in Bolton, near
Lancaster, in 1696. He was first a Presbyterian, altho his parents were members
of the Church of England. His first settlement was at Chesham, in
Buckinghamshire, where he changed his views regarding baptism and began to
preach to a Baptist congregation near Boston in Lincolnshire; here he remained
about one year. He then went to London, where he met the Sabbath question, and
became convinced as to the sound Scriptural position of the Seventh-day
Baptists; this was in 1726, and the same year he became pastor of the Mill Yard
Church, remaining such until his death, April 19, 1755, in his fifty-ninth
year. Mr. Daniel Noble, his pupil and successor, preached his funeral sermon.
He was "faithful and assiduous in the
discharge of his ministerial duties." His publications were devoted mainly
to the Sabbath; six works to this effect are still extant:-
"Reflections on Dr. Wright's
Observation on the Lord's -day," etc. 1729.
"The Seventh-day of the Week the
Christian Sabbath." 1735.
"The Seventh-day Farther Vindicated, an
answer to Dr Wright." 1736.
"A Second Defense of Some Reflections
on Wright's Treatise," etc. 1736.
"An Essay on the Sabbath." 1740.
"Mr. Foster's Sermon on the Sabbath,
examined with candor." 1745.
Dr. W. M. Jones speaks of these as
"thoroughly convincing on the Sabbath question." And Robert Cox, in
Sabbath Literature, says:- "Mr. Cornthwaite is one of the ablest defenders
of the positions taken tip by the Seventh-day Baptists ;" and quotes quite
at length from one of his works. His books were of a controversial character,
had an extensive circulation, and called forth replies from some of the most
eminent men of his time.
18. Cowell, John. During the licentiate of John Purser, John Cowell was
the chief preacher at the Natton Seventh-day Baptist Church. Elder Cowell began
to keep the Sabbath "about the beginning of the year 1661," but in
1671 he returned to the first-day and gave his reasons for so doing so in a
book entitled, "The Snare Broken," published in 1677. Mrs. Tamar
Davis says:- "Mr. Cowell appears to have been rather waving and unstable,
but withal a pious and well-meaning man. The Natton Church, of which he was
pastor, seems to have been composed of both first-day and seventh-day observers
until after his death in 1680.
19, Davis, Joseph, Sr. Joseph Davis, Sr., son of John Davis, was born in
1627. In 1646 he was apprenticed for nine years. At the expiration of this
time, in 1655, he was married. Sometime before this event, just how long we
cannot tell, he began keeping the Bible Sabbath; and was probably a member of
the Mill Yard Church at the time of the martyrdom of John James. His own brave
defense of the Bible Sabbath and Bible truth brought upon him severe
persecutions which he bore with meekness and fortitude. He was first imprisoned
for a few days, and about the time of the suffering of Mr. James. in 1661, he
was confined for some weeks or months. In 1662 he was imprisoned in Oxford
Castle where he remained, (with the exception of a short respite to visit his
dying wife in 1665), until released by Charles II, in 1672, with John Bunyan
and four hundred eighty-nine others. While in prison for the truth's sake,
January 26, 1670, from a "cold high tower" in Oxford Castle, he wrote
a letter to the Sabbath-keepers in Newport, R. I., which is characterized by a
sweet and most devout spirit, indicating a man of superior mind and exalted
piety. The letter is published in the Seventh-day Baptist Memorial, vol.1. page
74; and in the Sabbath Recorder for August 8, 1844.
After his release from Oxford jail, he went
to London and prospered in the business of a linen draper. In 1691 he purchased
the Mill Yard property, and erected a chapel and other buildings. In 1700 this
property was conveyed by him to trustees chosen by the church. In his will,
made in 1706, he bequeathed his property to his son, Joseph Davis, Jr.,
providing for an annual payment, for ministerial support, to Mill Yard and
seven other Seventh-day Baptist Churches then in existence; and so conditioned
his will that, on the death of his son, the Mill Yard Church came into
possession of his entire property. This property yielded an income of six
hundred pounds in 1880; and in 1902, the income was more than seven hundred
pounds. So rich a legacy has so excited the cupidity of the enemies of the
Sabbath, that by some scheming it has been diverted from the purpose of this
noble benefactor.
Mr. Davis died February 16, 1707; and is
justly characterized by Dr. Wm. M. Jones as a "man of influence, sound
judgment, and ardent piety." Ivimey says he was an elder.
20. Dawson, Henry. Rev. Henry Dawson was formerly of London, but came to
America in 1767. Gilfillan mentions him in a list of twenty-four with Matthew
Coppinger. On coming to America he seems to have been fellowshipped by the
first-day Baptists until found to be keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. In the
Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association for 1773, he is spoken of with
commendation. From Newport, R. I., he went to Trenton, N. J., where he was residing
in 1774, and conducting revival meetings with the Shrewsbury, N.J. Seventh-day
Baptist Church; there is no record, however, to indicate that he was a member
of this church. He was alive as late as 1777, and probably still at Trenton.
The date of his death we do not know.
In 1776 Mr. Dawson published "A short
essay on Rev. 1:10, showing the Lord's day means the real and perpetual
Sabbath;" and in 1777, "The Genuine Sabbath, Commonly called
Saturday, Vindicated."
21. Elwall, Edward. Edward Elwall was born November 9, 1676, and died
November 29, 1744. He was a member of the Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist Church,
and was one of the very first in England to advocate
"Disestablishment," or separation of Church and State. In 1728 he
published a tract, "The True and Sure Way to Remove Hirelings out of the
Church;" in this he wrote:- "As Christ has declared that his kingdom
is not of this world, so there never ought to be any worldly force to bring men
into it, nor any forced maintenance to support it. All must be free and not
forced. We read of Christ's whipping the buyers and sellers out but never in.
All Christ's followers must be volunteers.-he calls and they follow." (See
Recorder for January 28, 1886).
As an evidence of his Sabbath-keeping, he
was known among the common people of Wolverhampton by the name of "Jew
Elwall." (See Jones' "The Sabbath Memorial" for April, 1881,
page 241).
In 1727 he published "True Testimony
for God and for His Sacred Law: being a plain and honest defense of the Fourth
Commandment of God. An Answer to a Treatise on the Religious observance of the
Lord's-day." This book passed thru several editions. In it, says Dr. Wm.
M. Jones, "Elwall launches swift darts against the papal pagan Sunday, an
defends the Sabbath with great earnestness and solemnity."
22. Fox, John. We can gather but little information concerning John
Fox, but such as we have indicates that he was a vigorous defender of the Bible
Sabbath. John Cowell, who kept the Sabbath for ten years and then gave it up,
in his "The Snare Broken," published in 1677, speaking of his
associate Sabbath-keepers in 1664, says:- "And for many of the persons
concerned, they were no small ones either amongst that people, as Thomas
Tillam, Christopher Pooley, Edward Skipp, John Fox," etc. Thus we find Fox
classed with doughty champions of the Bible Sabbath. We can but regret that we
have no other records concerning him.
23. Fryth, John. John Fryth, (or Frith), was a man of learning and
influence who assisted William Tyndale in the translation of the Scriptures.
Frith was born in 1503 and martyred in 1533. He has been spoken of as one of
the very earliest "Sabbatarian Baptists" to be found in England; but
he was scarcely such, altho he uttered sentiments worthy of a defender of Sabbath
truth. He wrote:- "The Jews have the Word of God for their Saturday. Sith
It is the Seventh Day and they were commanded to keep the Seventh Day solemn.
And we have not the word of God for us, but rather against us; for we keep not
the Seventh Day as the Jews do, but the First, which is not commanded by God's
law." Thus Mr. Fryth became a true witness for the Bible Sabbath.
24. Gadbury, Judah. Mr. Gadbury appears as early as 1673 to have been an elder
of the Mill Yard Church. He was one of the original nine trustees of the Yard
property given to the church by Joseph Davis, Sr. He was associated with Joseph
Davis, Sr., and several entries in the church records were made by him. He died
about July 31st, 1734.
25. Hebden, --------. Mr. Ephraim Paggitt in his "Herisography,"
London, 1661, speaks of "one Mr. Hebden, prisoner in the new prison, that
lay there for holding Saturday Sabbath." This is all we know of him; but
from this we know that he was a sufferer for the truth-brave and true.
26. Hubbard, Thomas. Thomas Hubbard is not known to have been a
Sabbath-keeper, but for the truth's sake he was burned at the stake, March 26,
1555, in the reign of Bloody Mary, Queen of England. We refer to him here
because he was the ancestor of Samuel Hubbard, one of the seven who united to
form the first Seventh-day Baptist Church in America, at Newport, R. I.
27. Jackson, Hamlet. When John Trask came from Salisbury to London in 1617,
and held revival meetings, Hamlet Jackson became one of his disciples; and was
afterward the means of bringing him and others to the observance of the
seventh-day Sabbath - thus forming the nucleus of the Mill Yard Church. Jackson
was an ordained evangelist.
28. James, John. Rev. John James was one of the first, if not the
first, pastor of the Seventh-day Baptist Church worshiping in Bull Stake Alley,
Whitechapel Road, London, (since known as the Mill Yard Church). He was born of
poor parents, and became a ribbon weaver, afterwards a small coal man; but
finding this business too much for his health, he returned to ribbon weaving.
Sabbath-day, October 19, 1661, while preaching to his people at their meeting
place, he was twice rudely interrupted by officers of the law and commanded to
come down. He was then dragged out of his pulpit. The charge of uttering
treasonable words against the king was made by a journeyman tobacco-pipe maker
named Tipler; but so disreputable a person was Tipler that the justice refused
to commit Mr. James on his testimony unless it was corroborated; this was done,
and the good pastor was sent to Newgate prison. On the 14th. of November he was
brought before Chief Justice Forster, and three other judges, at Westminster
Hall, where he was charged with "endeavoring to levy war against the king,
with seeking a change in government, with saying that the king was a bloody
tyrant, a blood sucker and a bloodthirsty man, and that his nobles were the
same; and that the king and his nobles had shed the blood of the saints at,
Charing Cross, and in Scotland." But there was no show of evidence to
substantiate any of the charges. Mr. James was remanded to Newgate for four
days, when his trial came off. Previous to this he received a letter from a
friend of distinction, informing him that for many years there had not been
such efforts to pack a jury, and that his only hope of safety lay in
challenging them, or "most of the chief men of them." When Mr. James
was brought into court, the chief justice exclaimed, "Oh, Oh, are you
come?" and this was a specimen of the way in which his trial was
conducted. He was condemned in accordance with the plot of those who planned
his murder, and was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn, near Hyde Park, and while
still alive to have his entrails drawn and heart taken out and burned; his head
to be taken off and placed first on London Bridge, and afterward set up on a
pole in Whitechapel Road opposite to the meeting place in Bull Stake Alley; his
body to be cut in quarters and placed on four of the seven gates of the city.
The next day after sentence was pronounced against him, his wife presented a
petition to King Charles II, proving his innocence and appealing for mercy; but
the only reply of his majesty was, "Oh! Mr. James, he is sweet
gentleman!" and the door was shut against her. The next morning she made
another appeal to the King, and his cruel response was, "He is a rogue,
and shall be hanged." When asked if he had anything to say why sentence of
death should not pronounced against him, he answered:- "As for me, behold,
I am in your hands: do with me as it seemeth good and meet unto you. But know
ye for certain that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood
upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of mine eye." And when Mr. James heard his sentence, he
immediately added, "Blessed be God: whom man hath condemned, God hath
justified." The sentence was executed November 26, 1661. He was bound to a
sled and drawn through the slush of the streets to Tyburn, where he spoke with
such power and prayed with such fervor that the hangman would not execute the
full sentence, but permitted life to be fully extinct before he was drawn and
quartered. On the same sled which brought him to the place of execution, his
quarters were taken back to Newgate and then placed upon Aldgate, Bishopgate,
Moorgate, and Aldergate - the four gates nearest to the meeting-place in Bull Stake Alley, in front of which his head was exposed
upon a pole. Elder James gained great sympathy and respect for his devotion and
submission to God. At the place of execution his remarks were gentle and
loving, and his soul brave and full of hope. He was an inoffensive and
benevolent man, free from any blemish in his character, and guiltless of every
charge in the indictment. He was savagely murdered by Charles II, his courtiers
and his tools (the judges) to terrify the Dissenters, and especially the
Baptists, into loyalty. And undoubtedly the vengence of God, invoked by the
innocent blood of John James, had something to do with driving the Stuarts from
the throne of England.
29. Jones, Philip. Philip Jones was pastor of the Natton Seventh-day
Baptist Church, following Edmund Townsend in 1727, and continuing in this
relation until his death in 1770. As a young man, and licentiate, he gave
promise of much usefulness; and as pastor he "served the church with great
ability." It is said of him, "he was a holy man of God, a good and
lively preacher of the gospel."
30. Jones, William
M. On the death of Rev. William
H. Black in 1872, Elder Jones, his son-in-law, became pastor of Mill Yard
Church, and ably served the church in this capacity until his death in 1895,
February 22nd. He was born at Fort Ann, Washington Co., N. Y., May 2, 1818. His
father, Nathan Jones, was a member of the Baptist Church, and on the last
Sunday of January, 1836, William was baptized in the Chenango River. In March,
1838, he preached his first sermon from Matt. 25: 31, 32. In October, 1838, he
entered Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y., and on January 12, 1840, he was
licensed to preach.
He began ministerial work at Mill Creek,
Huntington Co., Penn., in June. January 5, 1841, he was ordained at the Mill
Creek Baptist Church. In May, 1844, he was appointed, with Elder Bingham, as a
missionary to Burmah, but was sent to the island of Hayti in the West Indies,
for which he embarked at Boston, January 10, 1845. December 2, 1845, he
preached his first sermon in French, from the text, 1 John 1:7.
His first knowledge of the Sabbath came from
the fact that an uncle, Joel Jones, then living in Canada, was keeping
"Saturday for Sunday." After this the Sabbath was several times
brought to his attention, but his doubts were allayed by a Baptist brother who
said that "Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but Sunday is the Christian
Sabbath," and several others of the most plausible statements on the wrong
side of the Sabbath question. While attending a missionary meeting in Sansom
Street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in November, 1843, he found some tracts
lying on the seats, three of which he picked up and found to be, "The
Sabbath Vindicator," "An address to the Baptists by the Seventh-day
Baptist General Conference," and "The True Sabbath Embraced and
Observed." He was dismayed as he read these, and said to himself:-
"Are these things so? If so, then I am involved in the transgression of
God's law, and am a Sabbath-breaker." His wife said:- "I think we
have no more Scripture for Sunday-keeping than my father has for infant
sprinkling." Thus the subject was dropped for awhile.
In 1847 he visited his uncle, Joel Jones, at
Clarence, N. Y., and wrote in his diary :- "Saturday, August 21st. This
day is kept by my uncle as the Sabbath of the Lord God. Am I wrong in keeping
the first day, or not? Is it not a serious question? . . . . I preached for the
Seventh-day Baptist Church, and was particularly impressed when the whole
congregation sang with much fervor Stennett's hymn :-
"Another six days' work is done,
Another Sabbath is begun," etc., etc.
Two months after this he called on Rev. Eli
S. Bailey in Brookfield, N.Y., on a Sabbath evening; and of this visit he
writes :- "I inquired for a book on Seventh-day Baptist doctrine and
history - one containing a summary of arguments. The Doctor replied, 'Yes, sir,
we have a book on these subjects - a very good book we think it is; indeed we
know of no better one, and if you haven't one, I shall take great pleasure in
presenting you with a copy. It is the Bible, sir.' " This recalled to Mr.
Jones the oft repeated Baptist aphorism:- "The Bible is the only rule of
faith and practice."
Finally he settled the question, and began
keeping the Bible Sabbath on the first Sabbath in July, 1848. This resulted in
his recall as a Baptist missionary to the Island of Hayti, from which he sailed
August 17, 1850. He was welcomed in New York by Seventh-day Baptist friends,
and in the following November he became pastor of the Church at Shiloh, N.J.
March 11, 1854, in company with Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Saunders, he and his wife sailed for the Holy Land, whither the Church
had sent them to found a mission at the ancient Joppa. Here he studied Arabic,
Hebrew, Latin, Greek, German and Italian; and was able in March, 1855, to use
Arabic in public worship to some extent. His first public service conducted
wholly in Arabic was on March, 13, 1858. In January, 1859, he conducted part of
a service in German.
Being recalled from this mission, he left
Jerusalem December 23, 1860, passed through Paris and arrived in London
February 22, 1861, where he first met the Rev. William Henry Black, F. S. A.,
pastor of the Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist Church. May 6th he arrived in New
York, and in October became pastor of the Walworth (Wis.) Seventh-day Baptist
Church. In 1863 he became pastor of the Church at Scott, N.Y., and in August,
1868, he removed to Rosenhayn, near Vineland, N. J. He and his family were the
first settlers here, built the first house, and cleared a small plot of ground.
On the death of Rev. W.H. Black, April 12, 1872, he was called as pastor of the
Mill Yard Church. Reaching London, September 14, 1872, he found only three
members belonging to the Church; but during his pastorate twenty-six others
were added to the number. He at once began to print and distribute tracts; and
issued the first number of the "Sabbath Memorial" in January, 1875.
This quarterly he published for fourteen years, and made it a faithful and
strong advocate of Sabbath observance.
One of the most unique and important of his
many Sabbath publications is his "Chart of the Week" in 160
languages; this he issued in 1887. By this he showed that in over one hundred
languages the seventh-day or Saturday was referred to as the Sabbath. Of this
Chart, the Christian Leader said, "It is a marvelous production of
patient as well as erudite toil, giving a bird's eye view of the language
history of the seven days' week from the remotest antiquity to the present
time.
In 1882, Sir Walter Besant, in his famous
novel, "All Sorts and Conditions of Men," describes Mill Yard Chapel,
and refers to Mr. Jones under the title of the Rev. Percival Hermitage. Mr.
Besant says :- "As for the position taken by these people, it is perfectly
logical, and in fact, impregnable. There is no answer to it."
In June, 1886, Alfred University conferred
upon Mr. Jones the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was Professor of
Arabic and Hebrew at the City of London College, Moorfields, for several years,
and was a member of many societies - Seamen's Christian Friend Society, London
Board of Baptist Ministers, Northwest London Fraternal, Board of the General
Baptist Assembly, Society of Biblical Archeology, The Oriental Congress, The
Southern Provincial Assembly of Free Churches, etc., etc.
He spent much time in studying the
Scriptures in the original languages; and his advice to students for the
ministry was always to learn Hebrew first and then Greek, holding that the New
Testament Scriptures should be studied through Hebrew spectacles.
His funeral services were conducted on
February 26, by Rev. G. J. Hill of the Seamen's Christian Friend Society, at
Abney Park Cemetery. Mr. Hill said, among other things, "I never knew a
more consistent follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I never heard a single word
fall from his lips which I might wish had not been uttered, never an
uncharitable or unkind word in reference to any one absent, nor the
manifestation of any but a Christlike spirit to those who were present."
31. Kiddle., James Jonas. Rev. J. J. Kiddle was born in 1802, and died
December 29, 1886. (Mill Yard Records.) His Sabbath experience, written by
himself, is published in the "Sabbath Memorial" for October, 1878,
page 102. He became convinced on this subject in 1848 thru an argument with a
skeptic, but did not commence to keep the Seventh-day until 1877. November 29,
1879, he was admitted as a non-resident member of the Mill Yard Seventh-day
Baptist Church.
32. Maulden John John Maulden was for forty years an elder in the
General Baptist Church. He was pastor of a Baptist Church in Goodmans Fields at
the time when he became a Sabbath convert in 1708; the same year he united with
the Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist Church. About the year 1712 he became joint
pastor of Mill Yard Church with Elder John Savage, and so continued until his
death, February 17, 1715, at the age of seventy years. He published a work
entitled, "A Threefold Dialogue; Whether the Seventh or First Day of the
Week is the Sabbath of the Lord;" and also, "The Ancient and
Honorable Way and Truth of God's Sacred Rest of the Seventh-day Sabbath."
These are able works.
33. McFarlane, Elder Patrick. Elder McFarlane was a member of the Mill Yard
Seventh-day Baptist Church, and an able and learned man. In 1815 he published
an "English and Gaellic Vocabulary;" and in 1826, "Strictures on
the Rev. Greville Ewing's Speech at Bible Society Meeting in Glasgow."
This last work was answered by a Mr. McGarvin, author of the
"Protestant."
Robert Cox, "Sabbath Literature,"
vol. II., p. 410, refers as follows to one of his writings:- "In a recent
pamphlet, entitled System in Revelation, by Patrick McFarlane, p. 25 (Edinburg,
1860), there appears a strong tendency to the opinion that the first day of the
week has been rashly and unwarrantably substituted for the seventh." He is
mentioned by Gilfillen; and his name also appears in the minutes of Conference
of forty years ago.
34. Noble, Daniel. Daniel Noble was born in Whitechapel, London, June
14, 1729, of Sabbatarian parents- Daniel and Sarah Noble. When very young he
manifested a pious disposition, and began early to prepare for the ministry. He
was baptized by Elder Robert Cornthwaite into the membership of the Mill Yard
Seventh-day Baptist Church.
He first learned grammar of a local tutor,
after which Mr. Cornthwaite directed his studies. He then came under the
instruction of Dr. Rotherham at Kendall, and afterwards completed his course at
the University of Glasgow in 1749-52. For a time he conducted a school at
Peckham.
He commenced authorship in his sixteenth
year, his first work being, "Letter against the Young Pretender, to the
People of England." From 1755 to 1767, he published books of sermons.
In June, 1752, he began to preach at Mill
Yard as assistant pastor, having the morning service while the pastor the
afternoon appointment. On the death of Elder Cornthwaite in 1755, he preached
his funeral sermon, which was published in the "Protestant Dissenters
Magazine," vol 6. He now received ordination to the ministry, and became
pastor of the church; which position he held until his death. He is said to
have been faithful and diligent in the discharge of his pastoral duties,
preaching with the Spirit and in power. Dr. Benson said, he was the best
composer of sermons he knew.
He had three daughters named, Experience,
Eusebia, Serena.
He died Dec. 24, 1783, and was buried Jan.
7, 1784. Dr. Jeffreys wrote his funeral sermon; but, dying three days later,
was unable to deliver it. It is printed in the "Protestant Dissenters
Magazine," vol. 5.
35. Ockford, James. Of the early history of this able defender of Sabbath
truth, we have no available record. It is said that he "wrote boldly
against the adversaries of the Sabbath," and "turned the weapons of
opposing parties against themselves." Being familiar with the discussions
in which Trask and Brabourne had been engaged, and not satisfied with the
pretended conviction of Brabourne, he published a book entitled, "The
Doctrine of the Fourth Commandment." The value and force of his arguments
are attested by two facts:- First, that his book was burned by order of the
authorities of the Established Church, suffering, as it was said, "a sharp
confutation by fire;" and, second, that it was counted worthy of an
extended review by Cawdrey and Palmer, members of the Assembly of Divines, in
their book, "Sabbatum Redivivum." One copy of Ockford's
"Doctrines" is known to have been in existence as late as 1868, at
least.
36. Pooly, Christopher. Mr. Pooly appears to have been one of the elders of
Mr. Brabourne's church in Norwich, Norfolk. It is recorded that he re-baptized
a Mrs. Boote on the 18th of August, 1656, "at the staithe in the
river;" and that he performed a like office for others sometime before
this. In 1652 he published in London a "Vindication of Christ and His
Ordinances from Glosses." John Cowell (see Cox, 2-58) mentions Pooly with
Tillam and Fox as "no small ones" among the Sabbath-keepers and
defenders of his day.
37. Powell, Vavasor. Vavasor Powell was born in Radnorshire in 1617, and
descended from an ancient and honorable stock:- on his father's side, from the
Powells of Knocklas in Radnorshire; and on his mother's side, from the
Vavasors, la family of great antiquity, that came out of Yorkshire into Wales,
and was related to the principal gentry in North Wales.
He was educated in Jesus College, Oxford. On
leaving College, he took orders in the Established Church about the year 1640,
and at first officiated in Wales as curate to his uncle, Erasmus Powell.
He had not been long, however, in that
situation when he joined the Puritans, (probably about 1642-43), from a
conviction that their principles and proceedings were more consonant with the
Scriptures than those on which the National Establishment is founded. About
this time he left Wales and took up his residence in the neighborhood of
London.
It appears that now he was in high
estimation with the Presbyterian party; and soon after an act of Parliament,
Feb. 22, 1649, "for the better propagating and preaching of the Gospel in
Wales," he returned to his native land where he continued some years
diligently exerting himself in promoting the objects of that act, and
especially in preaching the Gospel throughout the country. There was scarcely a
neighborhood, a parish, or a village in the country which was not visited by
him, and that did not hear from his mouth the cheering invitations of the
Gospel. There were few, if any, of the churches or chapels in Wales in which he
did not preach; very often he preached to the poor Welch in the mountains at
fairs, and in market places. Even to this day places are pointed out, it is
said, in the most obscure and unfrequented parts of the principality, where
Vavasor preached to numerous congregations.
When Mr. Powell left Wales in 1642, there
was not above one or two gathered churches; but as early as 1654 his followers were
calculated to amount to not less than twenty thousand, organized into distinct
societies of from two hundred to five hundred members each- all chiefly planted
and formed by his care and industry.
Rev. Dr. Richards of Lynn, Norfolk, who
bestowed much industry in tracing out the history of this eminent -
Nonconformist, says that he embraced the sentiments of the Baptists and was
himself baptized toward the end of the year 1655. After this he steadily
persevered in the work of the Lord, till the new order of things under Charles
II deprived him of his liberty and compelled him to desist. He was among the
first victims of the tyrannical measures of Charles II. On the 28th of April,
1660, he was seized in his own house by a party of soldiers and conducted to
the county jail. He was secured first at Shrewsbury, afterward in Wales, and at
last in the Fleet. In the year 1662 he was shut up in South Sea Castle, near
Portsmouth, where he continued five years. In 1667 he was released, but,
venturing to preach again in his own country, he was imprisoned at Cardig; and
on Oct. 16, 1669, he was brought to London and committed once more to the
Fleet, where he remained till discharged by death October 27, 1670, in the
fifty-third year of his age - eleven years of which he had passed in prison
for preaching a pure Gospel. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, in the
presence of an innumerable crowd of Dissenters. The inscription on his tomb
calls him "a successful teacher of the past, a sincere witness of the
present, and a useful example to the future age; who, in the defection of many,
found mercy to be faithful, for which, being called to many prisons, he was
there tried, and would not accept deliverance, expecting a better
resurrection."
Dr. Toulmin, editor of Neal's "History
of the Puritans," in a footnote on page 274, says:- "So active and
laborious was he in the duties of the ministry, that he frequently preached in
two or three places in a day, and was seldom two days in the week, throughout
the year, out of the pulpit. He would sometimes ride a hundred miles in the
week, and preach in every place where he could gain admittance, either by night
or day. He would often alight from his horse, and set on it any aged person
whom he met on the road on foot, and walk by their side for miles together. He
was exceedingly hospitable and generous, and would not only entertain and
lodge, but clothe the poor and aged. He was a man of great humility, very
conscientious and exemplary in all the relations of life, and very punctual to
his word. He was a scholar, and his general deportment was that of a gentleman.
His sentiments were those of a Sabbatarian Baptist. Dr. Richards says
there is not sufficient ground for considering him a Sabbatarian; but Dr.
Toulmin refers to Crosby's "History of English Baptists," of which
Dr. Black says that it is the only real history of English Baptists. We may
confidently rest upon this authority until facts are adduced to prove the
contrary, and rejoice in this eminent example of apostolic labor and suffering
for the cause of divine truth.
38. Purser, Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin Purser was the youngest son of the
first pastor of the Natton Church, Tewkesbury; and has the record of a pious,
thrifty and benevolent man. In 1718 he bought an estate at Natton, and fitted
up one room of his dwelling as a chapel for Sabbath worship; and this has been
the meeting place of this ancient church from that day until the present time.
At his death in 1765, he bequeathed this chapel and a burying place to the
church, together with an annuity of five pounds to all succeeding pastors. Tho
we know but little more of this godly man, with these facts as a basis, we can
picture a happy life of industry and well-doing.
39. Purser, John. Elder John Purser was
the first pastor, so far as we have any account, of the Natton Seventh-day
Baptist Church in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. His father was of an honorable
family, and wealthy, but disinherited him because he persisted in keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath. However, notwithstanding this injustice, God prospered him
in his business as a farmer, so that he attained to comfortable circumstances,
and to good standing in his County. Between the years 1660 and 1690 he suffered
much persecution for conscience' sake - at one time having taken from him the
team and plow with which he was cultivating his farm; but in this case a
neighboring Conformist interposed in his behalf and caused to be returned to
him these necessary articles for procuring a livelihood. But despite all his
losses, God blessed and prospered him; and he was enabled to bring up in
comfort a large family. All his children and many of his grandchildren, walked
in his steps, keeping the commandments of God.
40. Rix, Thomas. Thomas Rix was born in Malden, Essex, England, in
1806, and died in London, December 26, 1886. He was brought up in the Wesleyan
denomination of which he became a minister at an early age. Becoming
dissatisfied with infant baptism, he was baptized and joined a Baptist Church.
Soon after this he read a series of articles on the Sabbath question, in a
magazine called "The Church;" these articles led him to become a
Sabbath-keeper. He then sought out the Mill Yard Church, which, after a time,
he joined; and in 1854, was chosen as one of its deacons.
He was a man of sterling integrity and
conscientiousness; for altho his place of residence was four miles from Mill
Yard he always walked both ways so as not to break the Sabbath. For several
years before his death he preached in a free church which he had erected at his
own expense.
On Sunday, December 26, 1886, he was
visiting some friends at Wood Green in the North of London, and in the evening
went to the Wesleyan chapel. During the singing of a hymn he suddenly fell
forward and expired. He was twice married; and his second wife still survives
him, and is a member of the Mill Yard Church.
41. Rogers, John. John Rogers is not known to have been a
Sabbath-keeper, but is given here because he was probably the ancestor of James
Rogers, one of the first members of the Newport Seventh-day Baptist Church. In
the reign of Bloody Mary, John Rogers was burned at the stake, Monday, February
4, 1555.
A striking incident is related of him in the
Latin edition of Fox's Book of Martyrs, but omitted in the English
translation:- In King Edward's reign some were put to death for heresy; among
these was a woman, Joan of Kent. Rogers at this time was divinity reader in St.
Paul's Church, who therefore was in position to have influence with the higher
authorities. A friend plead with him to use his interest with the Archbishop
that this woman might be saved from the stake; but to all the arguments and
persuasions of his more humane friend, he turned a deaf ear, saying that she
ought to die, and that burning was no cruel death. Hearing this, the friend
struck Rogers' hand which he held, and with great vehemence exclaimed:-
"Well, perhaps it may so happen that you yourself shall have your hands
full of this mild burning." And so it came to pass that John Rogers was
the first man who was burned in Queen Mary's reign. It is supposed that his
friend, referred to above, was no other than Fox himself.
42. Rogers, Thomas. Nicholas Bounde's book, though written in the
interest of Sunday, was suppressed by Archbishop Whitgift and Lord Chief
Justice Popham because it aroused thoughtful popular attention to this great
question, with the result that many questioned the divine authority for Sunday
keeping; and the complaint was entered that "some built on this
foundation, endeavoring to bring back again the Jewish Sabbath and abrogate the
Lord's day as having no foundation in the Fourth Commandment."
Whether Thomas Rogers kept the seventh-day
Sabbath of the Bible, or not, it is certain that his work was not favorable to
Sunday sacredness; for in 1607 he wrote a treatise on the Thirty-nine Articles
of the Established Church, in which he vigorously denounced the idea that to do
servile work on the Lord's day (Sunday) was a sin. He died in 1616.
43. Russell, Peter. Peter Russell was one of the pastors of the Mill Yard
Seventh-day Baptist Church, being ordained to the ministry at the same time
with Daniel Noble. Upon the death of Robert Cornthwaite, in 1735, Noble and
Russell were together appointed to succeed him- the first preaching in the morning
and the other in the afternoon. When Mr. Noble died in 1783 he was succeeded by
William Slater as morning preacher; while Mr. Russell continued as afternoon
preacher until his death, in 1789, when Mr. Slater became both morning and
afternoon preacher. Mr. Russell is said to have served the church, very
acceptably.
44. Saunders, Lawrence. We include the name of Mr. Saunders not because he
was a known Sabbath-keeper, but for the reason that he was an ancestor of
Tobias Saunders, one of the members of the first Seventh-day Baptist church in
America.
Rev. Lawrence Saunders was born in
Gloucestershire, England; educated at Cambridge, and became a preacher of the
gospel at Frothingham and Litchfield in the reign of Edward VI. He was martyred
by fire outside the city of Coventry February 9th, 1555 (Sabbath day).
45. Savage, John. Elder John Savage became pastor of the Mill Yard
church in 1712; and during his term of service, the church was moved from
Bull-stake Alley to Mill Yard. He had as assistant pastor John Maulden, until
Maulden's death, February 17, 1715. After a faithful pastorate of eight years,
Elder Savage died March 20th, 1720.
46. Sellers, William. The name is variously spelled Seller, Saller,
Sallars, Salter; but the dates identify the person as one. Ivimey, Maitland and
others give John James (who was martyred in 1661) as the first pastor of the
Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist church. Mr. Sellers is named by these writers as
the next pastor of this church, and as having served in this capacity from 1670
to 1678. The church is said to have been in a flourishing condition during his
pastorate.,
As early as 1657, in conjunction with John
Spittlehouse, he published "An Appeal to the Consciences of the Chief
Magistrates touching the Sabbath Day),." In 1679 an enlarged edition of
this work was issued.
In 1671 Mr. Sellers published
"Examination of a Late Book by Dr. Owen on a Sacred Day of Rest," in
which he de fended the Sabbath of the Bible. He also published a work on
"Christian Instruction," in the form of Question and Answer; but no
date is given.
In the 1679 edition of the
"Appeal," he mentions "The oath and protestation that I and this
Protestant kingdom too in 1641." Supposing that at that date he was not under
twenty, this would make him about ninety years old at the time of his death,
May 26, 1713.
It was during his pastorate, in 1673, that
the present records of the Mill Yard church began. He is spoken of as a man of
considerable power in debate and controversy, using his gift in defense of the
Sabbath. It is said that he greatly interested the Jews, who came often to hear
him preach.
47. Shalder, Robert. David Benedict, in his "History of
Baptists," says that Mr. Shalder was a Seventh-day Baptist. A testimony to
his faithfulness, and to his suffering for the truth's sake is given in Neal's
"Puritans," Vol. II, page 382:- "The rage of the people,
sanctioned by the conduct of the magistrates and the clergy, towards the
Baptists, rose to such a height as to deny them the benefit of the common
burying places. Nay, there wanted not instances of their being taken out of
their graves. The inhabitants of Croft in Lincolnshire treated in this manner
the corpse of Mr. Robert Shalder in the year 1666. He had suffered much by
imprisonment and died soon after his release. He was buried among his
ancestors; and on the same day his grave was opened and his body was taken out,
dragged on a sledge to his own gate and left there." Thus have faithful
men suffered for Sabbath truth.
48. Shenstone, John Brittain. Elder Shenstone was born January 29, 1776; baptized
April 22, 1792; called to the ministry August 14, 1797; ordained elder of the
General Baptist Church April 23, 1799. For over forty years he was connected
with the Board of Baptist Ministers of London; and, as the senior member, was
called the father of the Board. But about the year 1822 he became convinced as
to the Sabbath, and began to attend the ministry of Robert Burnside, whom he
succeeded, in June, 1826, as pastor of Francis Bampfield's old church (Pinner's
Hall, London). He died on Sunday, May 12, 1844, in his sixty-ninth year. He was
the last pastor of this ancient church. His wife, who survived him, died
October 11, 1863 -- the last member of this church.
In 1826, Elder Shenstone published a book
entitled "The Authority of Jehovah Asserted; or a Scriptural Plea for the
Seventh-day Weekly Sabbath as the Only Sabbath Given by God."
49. Skipp, Edward. Edward Skipp wrote in defense of the Sabbath in 1664.
Further than this we have no record of him. Robert Cox in "Sabbath
Literature" (2-58) refers to his book.
50. Slater, William. William Slater
was born May 24, 1754, and died July 21, 1819. He was a member of the Mill Yard
Church: and on the death of Daniel Noble in 1783-4 he succeeded him as morning
preacher and upon the death of Peter Russell in 1789 he became afternoon
preacher also, and so continued until his death. In 1783 he wrote in defense of
the Sabbath.
The church experienced much trouble during
his pastorate, one of the trustees having thrown its affairs into the Court of
Chancery, for a private purpose. Being a quiet, inoffensive man he took these
troubles so to heart as to cause his death.
He kept a school for boys, and was a most
successful teacher; two of his pupils (one who became a doctor, and the other
Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society) spoke very highly of him.
He had one son and six daughters, who
survived him.
51. Smith, Robert. Robert Smith was born in 1590 and died in 1675. He
was a member of the Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist church. Reference is made to
him in the "Baptist Cyclopedia," and also in Hoyt and Wheeler's
"Biographical Dictionary," where he is spoken of as a book collector;
he is mentioned in The Sabbath Recorder of January 14, 1858.
52. Soursby, Henry. Henry Soursby was a member of the Mill Yard church
and was chosen elder in 1673; in 1678 he succeeded Elder William Sellers as
pastor of the church, holding this position until his death, September 8, 1711.
He was gifted in debate, and used his talents vigorously in defense of the
Sabbath. In 1683 he published "A Discourse on the Sabbath."
53. Spittlehouse, John. About the year 1654 there was published a
"Declaration of the several churches of Christ and Godly people in and
about the citie of London, concerning the Kingly Interest of Christ, and the
present sufferings of His Cause and Saints in England;" and among the 150
signatures is a group of seven names representing the Sabbathkeeping church
"that walketh with Dr. Peter Chamberlen:" in this group is the name
of John Spittlehouse. He also appears as joint author with William Sellers of
"An Appeal to the Consciences of the Chief Magistrates of this Commonwealth
Touching the Sabbath-day," published in 1657. Gilfillan includes him in a
list of eminent names of men who, "spread over a space of more than two
centuries, have contended for the perpetuity of the seventh-day Sabbath against
the Christian world." Elder Black calls him "Reverend;" and says
he was alive as late as 1671. Alas, that we have so scanty records of the lives
of men of this stamp!
54. Stennett, Edward. Edward Stennett was born in Lincolnshire, but the
exact date we do not know. The earliest notice we have of him states that he
was alive and not a Sabbath-keeper as early as 1631; at which time, according
to Robert Cox's "Sabbath Literature," Theophilus Brabourne wrote
against him and other preachers a "Defence of the Most Ancient and Sacred
Ordinance of God, the Sabbath Day."
He appears to have held the sequestered
rectory at Wallingford; but having taken the side of Parliament, and having
served as chaplain in the Parliamentary army, he was, on the Restoration of
Charles II., in 1660, deprived of his living in the Established Church. He now
applied himself to the study of medicine, by the practice of which he was able
to support his family in comfort and give his children a liberal education.
When he embraced the Sabbath, we cannot say, but we find him in charge of a
Seventh-day Baptist congregation in Wallingford at the time, or soon after the
Restoration. A the request of his son, Joseph, he undertook the pastorate of
Pinner's Hall church, and came to London at intervals, but continued to make
Wallingford his home.
He suffered much of the persecution to which
the Dissenters were exposed at that time, and more especially for his faithful
adherence to the cause of the Sabbath. For this truth he experienced
tribulation, not only from those in power, by whom he was a long time kept in
prison, but also much distress from unfriendly dissenting brethren who strove
to destroy his influence and ruin his cause. Wallingford Castle, in which he
resided, possessed among other privileges, exemption from search warrants issued
by any under the rank of Lord Chief justice; he was thus enabled to defy the
local magistrates. In this castle he fitted up a room for worship, and took
great care to admit no strangers. The squire and parson were his chief enemies,
who, failing to trouble him by law, hired false witnesses against him. Knowing
the justness of his cause he decided to appear at the trial which was fixed for
the assizes at Newbury. Just as the time for the trial approached, the son of
the judge who was to have been witness against him absconded with some
strolling players, the rector of Wallingford was seized with illness, another
witness broke his leg and in one way or another all were prevented from
appearing against him, except one man, a gardener, whose conscience smote him
so that he refused to appear. And so the servant of the Lord was delivered from
the hands of his enemies; there were also other instances in which the plain
hand of Providence appeared in his behalf.
In the Seventh-day Baptist Memorial may be
seen a letter "from Dr. Edward Stennett, of the Seventh-day Baptist
church, in Bell Lane, London, to the Sabbath-keepers in Rhode Island, dated
Abingdon, Berkshire, February 2, 1668." The truly humble spirit of this
great man is manifest in the opening and closing of his letter. He begins.-
"Edward Stennett, a poor, unworthy servant of Jesus Christ, to the remnant
in Rhode Island who keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus,
sendeth greeting;" and in closing he begs their "earnest prayers for
a full supply of all grace for me, a poor sinful wretch, that I may be found
worthy to praise him." This letter also indicates that many Seventh-day
Baptist churches once flourished in England. He says: "Here are in England
about nine or ten churches that keep the Sabbath, besides many scattered
disciples who have been eminently preserved in this tottering day when many
once eminent churches have been shattered in pieces." This opens up to
us a much larger view than we have been accustomed to take of the once flourishing
condition of Sabbath truth and principles in England.
In 1670 Mr. Stennett wrote a second letter
to the Rhode Island church: this was of like spirit with the first.
In 1658 he published "The Royal Law
contended for: or, Some Brief Grounds serving to prove that the Ten
Commandments are yet in full force, and shall so remain till Heaven and Earth
pass away." The same year he wrote "The Seventh-day Sabbath proved
from the Beginning, from the Law, from the Prophets, from Christ and his Apostles,
to be a duty yet incumbent upon Saints and Sinners." Also, in 1664, he
published "The Seventh-day is the Sabbath of the Lord: in answer to Mr.
Russell's book, No Seventh-day Sabbath recommended by Jesus Christ." The
first work was reprinted by the American (Seventh-day) Sabbath Tract Society in
1848, and is included in their volume of Tracts on the Sabbath published in
1853.
An extract from his book, "Penalty for
Sabbath-breaking," written in 1664, may be seen in the Sabbath Recorder
for April 25, 1845.
Besides asserting the duty of keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath, Mr. Stennett taught that its observance ought to be
commenced after the manner of the Jews, at sunset on Friday.
All his writings "breathe the genuine
spirit of Christianity, and in their day were greatly conducive to the
prosperity of the Sabbath-keeping churches."
In early life he was united in marriage with
Miss Mary Quelch, a lady of culture and refinement who belonged to an Oxford
family of good repute; and who was his most affectionate and helpful companion
through a long and eventful life. They became the ancestors of a series of
Sabbatarian ministers who, for four generations, continued to be among the
foremost of Dissenters in England, and whose praise is still in all the
churches.
Jehudah, their eldest son, became an eminent
scholar and Physician at Henley-on-Thames, and at the age of nineteen wrote a
Hebrew Grammar which was the standard text-book of the schools of that day.
Their daughter (Mary) was an excellent Greek
and Hebrew scholar; and married a William Morton, of Knaphill, Buckshire.
All their children were members of Pinner's
Hall Seventh-day Baptist church. Benjamin and George were both worthy
representatives of the name; Benjamin was useful in the ministry, but died
young; George is said to have been an eloquent, sound and able preacher of the
gospel. But of all their children, the one who reached the greatest eminence
was the Rev. Joseph Stennett I.
Rev. Edward Stennett died at Wallingford in
1690. The following epitaph was written by his son Joseph, and placed over the
grave of his father and mother:-
"Here lies a holy and a happy pair:
As once in grace, they now in glory share:
They dared to suffer, but they feared to sin;
And meekly bore the cross, the crown to win,
So lived, as not to be afraid to die;
So died, as heirs of immortality.
Reader, attend: tho dead, they speak to thee;
Tread the same path, the same thine end shall be."
55. Stennett,
Joseph, D. D., 1. Joseph Stennett
(1st) was born at Abingdon, County of Berks, England, in 1663. Through God's
blessing upon the prayers and efforts of his pious parents, he was very early
in life born from above. After his death, among his papers were found these
words:"O God of my salvation, how abundant was thy goodness! O invaluable
mercy! Thou didst season my tender years with a religious education, so that I
sucked in the rudiments of Christianity, as it were, with my mother's milk, by
the gracious admonitions and holy discipline of my godly parents. This was an
antidote sent from heaven against the corroding poison of sin; this made
conscience speak, while my childish tongue could but stammer; this is a branch
of thy divine bounty and goodness, for which my soul shall forever bless
Thee."
After finishing the branches of an ordinary
education the Grammar School in Wallingford, he mastered the French and Italian
languages, acquired a thorough knowledge of Hebrew and other Oriental tongues,
and successfully studied philosophy and the liberal sciences. In 1685 he
removed to London, and for the first five years employed himself in the
education of youth. He here cultivated the acquaintance of persons eminent for
piety and learning.
In 1688 he married Susannah Gill, the
daughter of a eminent and worthy French merchant who had fled from France after
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. This was a most happy union, and
was blessed with noble children, some of whom reached great distinction as
preachers.
On coming to London he joined the Pinner's
Hall Seventh-day Baptist church September 28, 1686. His brethren soon
discovered his gifts and grace, and prevailed upon him to exercise in
exhortation and expounding the Scriptures. These exercises proving so
satisfactory to the church, his ordination took place on "ye 4th day of ye
1st month, 1690."
He preached on Sunday to other Baptist
churches, but remained the faithful pastor of the Pinner's Hall Seventh-day
Baptist church until his death. His ministry was eminently evangelical, faithful
and effective. In preaching he never used written sermons, and took but few
notes into the pulpit. "His diction was easy and natural, for he had great
command of the English language. His voice was low, sweet and musical; and as
he spoke the true sense of his own heart- the suitable air of his countenance,
and the agreeableness of his address, seldom failed to recommend what he said
to the attention of judicious hearers. When he preached, few in the assembly
could remain unmoved." So says the editor of his published works.
His polished manners, ready address, fine
intellect and extensive learning speedily gave him a high position among the
Baptists; and, a little later, in other dissenting denominations. At the
request of the Baptists he drew up and presented an address to William III on
his deliverance from the "Assassination Plot." This document was
highly commended. When he published his thanksgiving sermon for the victory at
Hochstadt, in 1704, a nobleman, without his knowledge, presented a copy of it
to the Queen (Anne), who was so pleased with it that she sent a gift to the
eloquent and patriotic preacher.
He wrote and published many books, but he
excelled especially as a poet. He composed many beautiful hymns, some of which
are still used in the churches, and which drew forth at the time of their
composition commendations from Mr. Tate, the poet laureate. He composed many
hymns for use at the Lord's Supper; among these were:
"I own I love; 'tis no uncomely
fire."
"Jesus! O word divinely sweet."
"'Tis finished, the Redeemer cries."
"Thus we commemorate the Day;" etc., etc.
There were many others on the Sabbath and baptism, e.g.:-
"Blest Day! Ordained of God, and therefore blest."
"See how the willing converts trace."
"The great Redeemer we adore."
"Thus was the great Redeemer plunged," etc., etc.
But the hymn for which he is chiefly remembered, found perhaps in all standard
church hymn books, is that beginning-
"Another six days work is done."
Multitudes sing this hymn to-day and apply
it to Sunday, the first day of the week; but the author wrote it for the
seventh-day Sabbath of Jehovah, of which he was a faithful keeper all his life
and an ardent defender.
His version of the Song of Solomon, and his
hymns, secured for him such a reputation as a poet and a Hebrew scholar, that
he was requested to revise the English version of the Psalms of David. Dr.
Sharp, Archbishop of York, speaking of this proposition, declared that "he
had heard such a character of Mr. Stennett, not only for his skill in poet but
likewise in the Hebrew tongue, that he thought no man more fit for that work
than he."
In 1702, when David Russen assailed the
Baptists in his book, "Fundamentals Without a Foundation, or a True
Picture of the Anabaptists," Mr. Stennett was invited to refute the work;
and he accomplished the task with so much learning such solid reasoning, and
such an utter rout of all the forces of Mr. Russen, that he was satisfied never
again to meddle with the Baptists. The reputation acquired by this work
prompted his friends to secure his services in writing a complete History of
Baptists. He intended to comply with this request, and for some years he
collected materials for it; but on account of failing health he was unable to
finish the task. After his death, however, this history was edited and
published with his other works in five octavo volumes, in 1732.
He was offered preferment in the Established
Church and there is reason to believe he could have reached an exalted position
in it. An eminent prelate is said to have remarked to an intimate friend of Mr.
Stennett, "that, if he could but be reconciled to the church, not many
preferments in it, he believed, would be thought above his merit." But the
conscience of Mr. Stennett was not for sale, though all the wealth of earth had
been offered for it.
His health seriously declining, on advice of
his physicians he left London for change of air and went to the house of his
brother-in-law, Mr. Morton, at Knaphill in Buckinghamshire; here he declined
rapidly and peacefully fell asleep in Jesus, July 11, 1713, in the forty-ninth
year of his age and the twenty-third of his ministry. A lengthy and most
appreciative epitaph in Latin was written by his friend, Dr. Ward of Gresham
College, and placed on his tombstone; a translation of which may be seen in
"The Sabbath Memorial" (London, 1883), page 384.
56. Stennett, Joseph, D. D., II. Dr. Joseph Stennett (2nd) was born in London November
6, 1692. He was the son of Joseph and Susannah Stennett. His educational
advantages, of which he made the best use, were of the highest order. He became
a noted linguist, and an adept in the use of the French, the Italian and the
Hebrew languages. His only sister became, by his instruction, so familiar with
the Greek and Hebrew languages that she was able to read the Scriptures in
those languages as readily as she could in the English.
When fifteen years of age he gave his heart
to the Saviour and was baptized. At twenty-two he entered upon the Christian
ministry. He was at one time solicited to become the pastor of Mill Yard
church, but declined. It was quite customary in those days for a seventh-day
minister to serve a first-day church; and so Dr. Stennett, at the age of
forty-five, became pastor of a Baptist church in Little Wild street, London, although
himself a faithful Sabbath-keeper to the day of his death. Dr. Gill preached
one of the two sermons delivered on the occasion of his settlement in London.
At that time he was in possession of splendid powers, matured by a wide range
of experience, and by information from all ages and regions.
He was among the most eloquent preachers of
his day, and soon his talents were recognized throughout the great metropolis.
He was on agreeable terms with Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London; a true follower of
Jesus. He was personally known to King George II., who cherished a warm regard
for him. He was an eloquent defender of the doctrines of grace against
Socinianism.
On behalf of the Dissenting ministers of the
"Three denominations in London (Congregational, Baptist and Presbyterian),
on October 3, 1745, Mr. Stennett presented an address to the King
congratulating his majesty on his return to England, on the triumph of his arms
in America, and on his successes on the Continent of Europe." The address
also deprecates "the present unnatural attempt to impose upon these
kingdoms a papist (Charles Edward) and an abjured Pretender."
In 1754 the University of Edinburg created
him Doctor of Divinity on the recommendation of his royal highness the Duke of
Cumberland, its Chancellor, who sent Mr. Stennett the diploma by his secretary.
He was the author of eight small, but
valuable, works.
Dr. Stennett died February 7, 1758, in the
sixty-sixth year of his age. His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Gill, and
in it he stated that "his death was a public loss, particularly to the
whole Dissenting interest."
57. Stennett, Joseph, III. Joseph Stennett (3rd) was the son of Joseph Stennett
(2nd), and in 1740 became his father's assistant at Little Wild Street Baptist
church; after serving with his father for two or three years he became the
pastor of the Baptist Church of Coats, Oxfordshire. Not much besides this is
known of him, except that, like his father and grandfather he was a faithful
keeper and defender of the Sabbath. He died in 1769.
58. Stennett, Samuel, 1. Samuel Stennett (1st) was the son of Rev. Joseph
Stennett (1st). After a few faithful years as his father's assistant in the
pastorate of Pinner's Hall church, his promising career was suddenly ended by
death.
59. Stennett,
Samuel, D.D., 11. Dr. Samuel
Stennett was born in Exeter, in 1727, and was converted and baptized when
young. Like his father he was a man of superior talents and of great erudition.
Ivimey says:- "His proficiency in Greek, Latin and Oriental tongues, and
his extensive acquaintance with sacred literature, are so abundantly displayed
in his valuable works that they cannot fail to establish his reputation for
learning and genius."
He had been accustomed to move in the
society of persons of refinement; and on entering upon his pastoral duties in
London he was remarkable for the ease and suavity of his manners, for the good
breeding, the polished language, and the graceful ways of the true gentleman.
He was frequently in company with persons enjoying the highest social
distinction and in such situations as gave him an opportunity to commend
Baptists and aid Dissenters of all denominations.
In 1763 he was made a Doctor of Divinity by
King's College, Aberdeen. Among the noble men who waited upon his ministry and
loved him with the affection of a friend was John Howard, the philanthropist.
In a letter from Smyrna, written to Dr. Stennett August 11, 1786, Mr. Howard
says:- "I bless God for your ministry; I pray God to reward you a thousand
fold. My friend, you have an honorable work; many seals you have to your
ministry."
He ministered to the Little Wild street
church as his father's assistant for ten years; and as its pastor, after his
father's death, for thirty-seven years. The meeting house was rebuilt during
his ministry. His father, Joseph Stennett, D. D.; his grandfather, Joseph
Stennett; his great-grandfather, Edward Stennett; his brother, Joseph, and his
son, Joseph, were all Baptist ministers- and Sabbath-keepers.
Dr. Samuel Stennett was a hymn writer of
note. He wrote the beautiful and well known hymn, "Majestic sweetness sits
enthroned upon the Saviour's brow;" also "On Jordan's stormy banks I
stand."
Most of his works were reprinted in 1784 in
three octavo volumes. In 1772 he published a work entitled "Remarks on the
Christian Minister's Reasons for Administering Baptism by Sprinkling." In
1775, "An Answer to the Christian Minister's Reasons for Baptizing
Infants." He was also author of two productions treating of appeals to
Parliament by Protestant Dissenters for relief from persecuting enactments.
He died August 24, 1795, in the sixty-eighth
year of his age.
60. Stuart, Charles James. Dr. Stuart was born in 1758 and died about the year
1828. He was considered singular in his own city, Edinburgh, for holding
Seventh-day Baptist views. This seemed all the more peculiar to those who knew
him, not only because he was alone, but also because of his position- having
inherited the estate of Dunearen, being related to the nobility of his country,
and having in his veins the royal blood of the Stuarts.
He was educated for the regular ministry of
the Church of Scotland, and for a time had charge of the parish of Cramond; but
from this he was suspended by the General Assembly for refusing to administer
the rite of baptism and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to any but
believers. He thereupon withdrew from the church; and further study of the
Bible led him to become a Baptist connecting himself with the Scotch Baptist
Church.
Having been checked in his career as a
minister of the gospel, he now took a medical course and henceforth devoted his
life to the practice of medicine; in this profession he became successful and
celebrated, having extensive practice in the first families of the land.
After a few years in the Baptist church, he
was constrained to sever his relations with this people on account of his
conviction as to the Sabbath having become convinced from careful Bible study
that the seventh-day was the only Sabbath of the Lord. After this, although
without ecclesiastical connections, he maintained Christian fellowship with the
pious of all denominations, and was one of the first to patronize the Baptist
Missionary Society of England. He was an intimate friend of Andrew Fuller,
Carey, Marshman, and Ward.
He married a daughter of Thomas Erskine, D.
D.
He was wealthy and also very benevolent.
It is said of Dr. Stuart, that, "as a
Hebraist and Biblical critic, he was not surpassed by many, if by any, in the
country."
Thus lived and died a lone Sabbath-keeper,
won to the truth by the faithful study of the Word of God alone- that Word
which liveth and abideth forever.
61. Tanny, Philip. Mr. Tanny was educated in the Church of England, and
became a minister in the same; but having changed his views as to baptism and
the Sabbath, he began at once to spread abroad the truth as he now saw it. He
is said to have been a man of piety and learning remarkably active and zealous
in promulgating the truth- and that he became "a mark for many
shots." In prosecuting his work, he held several public disputes. His
field of labor was in the northern part of England.
Mrs. Tamar Davis, in her "History of
Sabbatarian Churches," calls him Philip Pandy, but this is a mistake; he
was, however, sometimes called "Tandy," as he himself testifies. His
only publication in existence, so far as we know, is a sermon on Rev. 3:20,
entitled, "Christ Knocking at the Door:" the substance of a sermon
intended to be preached in Pauls upon the Sabbath Day which fell upon April
15th last; but not preached by Philip Tanny, commonly Tandy, 1655."
This sermon was dedicated to Oliver
Cromwell, and the dedication is signed "Philip Tanny vulgo Tandy."
Of the time of his birth, and other facts of
his life than those given above, we have at present no knowledge. The date of
his published sermon shows that he was alive as late as 1655.
62. Tempest, Sir William. William
Tempest was a member of the Inner Temple, a lawyers' guild of London, May 9,
1692; and was admitted to the bar July 2, 1704. He became a Fellow of the Royal
Society in 1712. He was baptized at his home, Cran brook, March 28, 1725, and
joined Mill Yard September 2, 1732. He was a lay preacher and often occupied
the Mill Yard pulpit much to the satisfaction of both the pastor and people.
(Gleaned from "The Mill Yard Publications.") Mr. Tempest is styled
"the conscientious barrister-at-law, and poet." If a case came up for
trial on the Sabbath-day, he would plead the case lest injustice be done his
client, but he would take no pay for such services. As a member of the Mill
Yard Seventh-day Baptist church, he was chosen a trustee of the Davis Charity;
and in this he succeeded Mr. Davis himself. The church record is as follows: "Whereas
our honored brother, Joseph Davis, Esq., departed this life the 9th of March,
1732; who was a Trustee for Mill Yard; the Trustees undermentioned have
unanimously chosen William Tempest, Esq., in the room and place of the above
deceased Mr. Joseph Davis, for a Trustee of Mill Yard, being a member of the
congregation of Mill Yard, London, September 3, 1732." This was signed by
Elder Cornthwaite and five other Trustees.
Sir William Tempest died August 15, 1761.
63. Tillam, Thomas. Elder Thomas Tillam appears as the pastor of two
different Seventh-day Baptist churches: one in Hexham (from 1651 to 1654 at
least), Northumberland, England, a market town on the Tyne river, twenty miles
west of Newcastle; the other in Colchester, Essex, some two hundred and fifty
miles southeast of Hexham. As to the first pastorate he is said to have
organized the first Baptist church in Northumberland County, of which he became
the first pastor.
As to the second, we learn from one of his
books that it was the minister of a church of two hundred baptized believers in
Colchester, all keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. He wrote and published a hymn
in celebration of the event of the two hundred joining in the Lord's Supper on
the Lord's Sabbath.
Robert Cox quotes from Cowell, who says of
the Sabbatarians of his day, "they were no small ones either, amongst that
people, as Thomas Tillam, Christopher Pooley, Edward Skipp, John Fox,
etc."
Some of his writings indicate that he was greatly
persecuted on account of his principles, and one of his books is styled "A
present from prison."
He was the author of a number of works:- In
1651 he published "The Two Witnesses; their Prophecy, Slaughter,
Resurrection and Ascension or an Exposition of Revelation, chapter
eleven." In 1654, "Banners of Love Displayed over the Church of
Christ, walking in the order of the gospel at Hexham. An answer to a Narrative
stuffed with untruths by four Newcastle Gentlemen." The preface of this
book is dated "Hexham, 1653;" and in the book he states that
"sprinkling is not baptism."
In 1655 he issued a work entitled, "The
fourth principle of Christian Religion: or the foundation doctrine of Laying on
of Hands, asserted and vindicated." This was a reply to Lieutenant Colonel
Paul Hobson, who had asserted the opposite. The laying on of hands seems to
have been generally practiced by the early Seventh-day Baptists in America as
well as in England.
His last book, of which we have knowledge,
appeared in 1657, entitled, "The Seventh-day Sabbath sought out and
Celebrated: in answer to Mr. Aspinwall's late piece against the Sabbath."
This was replied to by William Jennison, in "A Lash for a Liar: or a Word
of Warning to all Christians to take heed of Thomas Tillam, who is now
discovered by his preaching and printing to be a common slanderer of as many as
are contrary to his opinions." 1658. An answer was also made to Tillam's
book by "G.T." in 1659.
Thomas Grantham, in a work published in
1678, in his chapter "Of the Seventh-day Sabbath," refers to Thomas
Tillam as an "Apostate from the Gospel," and again as "that
prodigious apostate" who had encumbered truth "with his Jewish
ceremonies." He speaks of him as "T. Tillam of Colchester,"
showing that he was still pastor there as late as 1678.
So the enemies of the Sabbath maligned this
man of God, and illustrated, again the proverb that when a cause lacks good
arguments, mud and stones are apt to be resorted to. But the truth stands
forever, while the names of its enemies perish and are forgotten.
64. Tombes, John. J. Davis' History of the Welsh Baptists (p. 41)
shows Mr. Tombes to have been a Baptist, strongly defending immersion as the
only Scripture baptism. In Joseph Stennett's answer to David Russen's book on
baptism, London, 1704 (page 249), he quotes from the House of Lords as saving:
"There was a very learned and famous man that lived at Salisbury, Mr.
Tombes, who was a zealous Conformist in all points but one, Infant
Baptism."
And now as to the Sabbath: Mr. Tombes was the
author of an able work on "Christian Baptism," and fourteen other
polemical works, published in England during the Protectorate of Oliver
Cromwell. A quotation from his work on Christian Baptism (pages 674, 675) is a
strong argument for the seventh-day Sabbath. Mr. Stennett says that some
Pedobaptists observe the seventh-day while they remain in the communion of the
Church of England.
There is then fair evidence that Mr. Tombes
was a representative of a numerous class of ministers in those days who remained
in the Establishment, or in some Dissenting body, and at the same time strictly
observed and faithfully defended the Sabbath of the Bible.
65. Townsend, Edmund. We first know of Mr. Townsend as the second pastor of
Natton Seventh-day Baptist church (succeeding Elder John Purser about 1720). He
did not remain here long, however, but removed to London, and became a member
of the Mill Yard church. On December 3, 1727, he was ordained as the successor
of Joseph Stennett (1st), who had died in 1713. After Mr. Stennett's death the
congregation at Pinner's Hall had moved to Cripplegate, so that Elder Townsend
is spoken of as "Pastor of the Cripplegate Fraternity." The records
state that "The Church gave themselves up to Mr. Edmund Townsend."
Ivimey says:- "He was a worthy and
respectable man: and though not particularly distinguished for literary
attainments, was yet a useful minister, and greatly esteemed in his day. He
died January 5, 1763, having been for some time previous rendered incapable of
preaching. His remains were interred in the burial ground behind the Baptist
Meeting House in Mill Yard, where he had buried his wife a few years before.
She appears to have died in the year 1755, in the sixty-eighth year of her age."
66. Traske, John. This name is variously spelled, Trask, Trasque and
Thraske. Mr. Traske was probably born about the year 1583 ; but we know nothing
of his early life. He became a school teacher, and must have enjoyed something
of a liberal education ; although he is said not to have been a university man.
He is accredited with being a Latin scholar, and as having studied Hebrew and
Greek while in prison for his religious beliefs.
We first know of him as a schoolmaster in
Somersetshire, where he seems to have sought ministerial orders, which were
refused him by the Establishment. He then removed to Salisbury, where he became
a Puritan, and obtained the "orders" which he desired. After this he
came to London, in just what year is uncertain: Rev. George B. Utter puts it in
1618, about the time that the Book of Sports for Sunday was published under the
direction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and King James I; Rev. Dr. William M.
Jones says that Mr. John Trask came to London in 1617; however, there is reason
to believe that his pioneer work was begun in the metropolis as early at least
as 1616.
As to his religious views and teachings, we
have already noted that at first he was in the fellowship of the Established
Church, and that subsequently he adopted the views of the Puritans; such were
his convictions on coming to London.
Being a man of strong personality, and most
zealous as a revival preacher (preaching much upon the streets and in public
Places), he soon had a large number of followers, who were called
"Traskites." Among these was one Hamlet Jackson (whom he afterward
ordained as an evangelist), who, through searching of the Scriptures, was led
to embrace the Bible Sabbath, and through whose influence it is said that Mr.
Traske and others were brought to like views. Traske began at once with all
earnestness to propagate the Sabbath doctrine; and from among the many who were
won by him, no doubt sprang the nucleus of the Mill Yard Seventh-day Baptist
church.
As a result of his advocacy of the
Scriptures as sufficient to direct in all religious services, and the duty of
the State not to impose anything contrary to the Word of God, great opposition
was awakened and his enemies became very bitter against him; he was denounced
as "a wolf in sheep's clothing, a seducing imposter, and cunning
deceiver."
Failing to silence him in any other way, he
was arrested by the authorities and brought before the infamous Star Chamber
presided over by Bishop Andrews, who made a long speech against his views: The
indictment against him was that of Judaizing; seeking to make "Christian
men, the people of God, his majesty's subjects, little better than Jews, both
in the matter of abstaining from eating meats which the Jews were forbidden in
Leviticus, and that they were bound to observe the Jewish Sabbath."
Writing and preaching in defence of the Sabbath was his "crime."
Paggitt's Heresiography says he was "sentenced, on account of his being a
Sabbatarian, to be set upon the pillory at Westminster, and from thence to be
whipped to the Fleet prison, there to remain a prisoner for three years."
Another account says he was "tied to the cart's tail and whipped all the
way to Fleet prison, probably about two miles, there to remain a prisoner."
Still another account adds that his sentence included the branding of the
letter "I" upon, his forehead. The sentence against him was executed
in full.
For some reason, not now known he made a
recantation December 1, 1619, and ceased to keep and defend the Bible Sabbath;
but the seed of Sabbath truth which he had sown never ceased to bear fruit. It
may be noted incidentally if he remained in prison the full three years, and
was released in December, 1619 his evangelistic work in London must have been
as early at least as 1616.
Among his published works were; Sermon on
Mark 16:16 published in 1615; A Treatise of Liberty from Judaism, etc., in 1620
when leaving the Sabbath; The Power of Preaching, in 1623; A letter to Mistress
Traske, who lay prisoner in the Gatehouse many years for keeping the Jewish
Sabbath, for working on our Lord's Day, and signed T. S., December 26, 1634;
The True Gospel, etc., in 1636.
Various works were published against him at
different times. Among these were the Speech by Bishop Andrews in the Star
Chamber, against the Judaical opinions of Traske; A Treatise maintaining that
Temporal Blessings are to be sought and asked with submission to the will of
God - also a discovery of the late dangerous errors of Mr. John Traske and most
of his strange assertions, by Edward Norrice, 1636; The New Gospel not the True
Gospel, or a discovery of the life and death, doctrines and doings of Mr. John
Traske, and the effects of all in his followers, Wherein a mysterie of iniquity
is briefly disclosed, a Seducer unmasked, and all warned to beware of
imposters, by Edward Norrice, 1638.
As to his death - he was living December 26,
1634, when he wrote to his wife in prison, and he was probably alive when he
wrote and published "The True Gospel" in 1636; and yet he must have
been dead when Edward Norrice wrote of his "late dangerous errors" in
1636. Hence he must have died sometime within the year 1636; not later,
certainly, than 1638, when Norrice wrote of the "Life and Death, doctrines
and doings of Mr John Traske."
He died in the house of one of his followers
in Lambeth, and was buried in Lambeth Churchyard.
67. Traske, Mrs. John. The wife of John Traske well deserves a mention in
any list of ancient English Seventh-day Baptists. It is easy to believe that
she was indeed a woman "endowed with many and particular virtues." As
to her birth, parentage, and many other matters of interest, we are in
ignorance; but what is known renders her memory fragrant.
She must have been a person of considerable
learning, since she successfully conducted a private preparatory classical
school. She would teach for no less per pupil than fourteen pence per week, but
she would sometimes return a part of the tuition to poor parents, or in the
case of a student from whom she thought she deserved not so much ; all this, it
is said she did "out of conscience and as believing that she must one day
be judged for all the things done in the flesh." Her estimate of
punctuality was shown in that she would not receive any child whose parents
would not send him (or her) promptly at seven in the morning, and send the
child's breakfast at nine o'clock. Testimony as to her skill as a teacher is
given by Ephraim Pagitt in the following words :- "There was found hardly
any one that could equal her for so speedy beginning children to read. She
taught a son of mine who had only learned his letters in another place, at the
age of four years, in the space of nine months, so that he was fit for the
Latin into which he was then entered." That she was very popular as a
teacher, is clear from the fact that parents were so eager to send their
children to her school that she was obliged to make a rule to receive only so
many as she could properly teach, and yet many were "waiting their turn
for admittance for a very long time ahead."
But that which has preserved her memory
until this time was her Christian spirit, her love of truth and her long and
fatal sufferings for the truth she held dear. She was one of the most noted and
faithful of her husband's converts to the Sabbath, never forsaking it as did
he; but for this devotion she was called to suffer. When it was discovered that
she did not honor Sunday, and would not teach in her school on Saturday, she
was arrested and cast into prison - first, Maiden Lane, and then Gatehouse -
where, for Sabbath- keeping, she suffered "fifteen or sixteen years,"
until released by death.
Some of the characteristics of her faith and
her independent spirit are shown in an account by a contemporary (Ephraim
Pagitt), who was not friendly to the Sabbath:-
"Mistress Trask lay for fifteen or
sixteen years a prisoner for her opinions about the Saturday- Sabbath; in all
which time she would receive no relief from anybody, notwithstanding she wanted
much, alleging that it is written, 'It is a more blessed thing to give than to
receive.' Neither would she borrow. She deemed it a dishonor to her head,
Christ, either to beg or borrow. Her diet for the most part of her
imprisonment, that is till a little before her death, was bread and water, roots
and herbs. No flesh, nor wine, nor brewed drink. She charged the keeper of the
prison not to bury her in church nor churchyard, but in the fields only; which
accordingly was done. All her means was an annuity of forty shillings a year;
what she lacked more to live upon, she had of such prisoners as did employ her
sometimes to do business for them. But this was only within the prison, for out
of the prison she did not go; so she sickened and died."
Confined in the same prison was a Mr.
Richard Lovelace, Who was there because of his royalist sympathies: while there
he wrote the poem, " To Althea from Prison." In the following lines
he is supposed to refer to Mrs. Traske:
"Stone
walls do not a prison make.
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for a heritage."
The
date of Mrs. Trask's imprisonment is not certain; but if Lovelace was
imprisoned from 1643 to 1654 (as it is said), it seems probable that her term
may have overlapped that in part.
68. Wheaton, Elder ---- . Elder Wheaton appears to have been pastor of a
Seventh-day Baptist Church at Swanzey, Wales, as late at least as 1730. The
"Baptist Cyclopedia" in an article on "The Hollis Family,"
says:- "In a letter to Elder Wheaton, of Swanzey, Thomas Hollis writes
God, that hath shined into our hearts by his gospel, can lead you sleeping
Sabbatarians from the Sinai covenant and the law of ceremonies into the light
of the new covenant and the grace thereof. I pity to see professors drawing
back to the law, and desire to remember that our standing is by grace."
Thomas Hollis, an eminent and liberal patron
or benefactor of Harvard in Massachusetts, was born in 1659 and died in 1731;
he was baptized and became a Baptist in 1679, but did not go as far as the
Sabbath. His letter, however, indicates clearly that Wheaton was a Seventh-day
Baptist, an presided over a congregation of such.
69. Whiston, William. William Whiston is mentioned by Elder Black in Mill
Yard Publications, "Lays and Legends," as the ejected Mathematical
Professor of Cambridge, a learned and voluminous writer. Though an Episcopalian
Clergyman, he advocated and observed the seventh-day Sabbath."
The Encyclopedia Britannica (24-578) gives
him over a column and speaks of him as leaving the Church of England in 1747
and becoming a Baptist. He was born in 1667, and died August 22, 1752.
70. Whitewood, Thomas. In 1767 Mr. Thomas Whitewood became the successor of
Edmund Townsend as pastor of Pinner's Hall church, and is said to have died the
same year. He appears to have come from Portsmouth, Hampshire. He was one of
the subscribers to Dr. Gill's Sermons and Tracts; and wrote in 1764 a letter to
Rev. S. Pike with remarks on his Sermon on Faith. He was a scholarly man and in
his writings makes free use of Greek.
71. Wilkinson, Thomas. Thomas Wilkinson was born in 1823 and died February
9, 1903. He was a regular Baptist, and is not entitled to a place in this
record but for the fact that he was the pastor of Natton Church from 1870 until
his death-thirty-three years (although a Sunday man).
72. Wyncup, N. Mr. Wyncup is mentioned by Gilfillan in a list of two
dozen Sabbatarians. In 1731 he published a book entitled "Remarks on Dr.
Wright's Treatise on the Religious Observance of the Lord's Day- in which the
Individual Obligations Remaining on the Christian Church to the Religious
observance of the Seventh Day, are stated and vindicated."
A copy of this book, with many still older
Sabbath writings, may be seen in Alfred University Library.
The above list of Sabbath advocates and
defenders- pastors, authors, etc., is simply representative and suggestive; of
many, all records have perished; of others, we find but the name, and possibly
a single item of information concerning them, as, for example:- Eliza Bedford
wrote in 1716 "The Widow's Mite," showing why the Seventh-day is to
be kept in Christ; James Oxley in 1882 published "The Seventh-day of the
Week the Sabbath of the Lord;" James Scott, in 1874, "The Only
Sabbath-day by Divine Appointment;" Mehetable Smith, in 1683, wrote a part
of Henry Soursby's "Discourse on the Sabbath."
Names of living writers on the Sabbath
question are not included in the purpose of this history.
These ancient worthies, though dead, yet
speak to us; they bid us let not the sacred cause of truth, for which they
sacrificed everything, perish; they bid us be of good courage, the Lord will
give the final victory. In 1520 Luther said of Carlstadt, "Indeed if
Carlstadt were to write further about the Sabbath, Sunday would have to give
way, and the Sabbath- that is to say, Saturday must be kept holy." Keep on
with faithful, persistent testimony, and Saturday alone will yet be known only
as the Sabbath of the Lord.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manual of the Seventh-day Baptists. Rev.
George P. Utter. 1858.
History of Sabbath and Sunday. A. H. Lewis,
D. D. 1886.
Jubilee Papers. 1892. Article by Rev. W. M.
Jones, pp. 9-18.
Sunday Legislation. A. H. Lewis, D. D., LL.
D. 1902.
History of the Anglo Saxons. Sharon Turner.
Origin and Independence of the Ancient
British Church. Bp. Burgess. 1815.
Chronicles of the Ancient British Church.
James Yeowell. 1847.
Religion of Ancient Briton. George Smith, F.
A. S. London. 1846.
Annals of the Ancient British Church. Rev.
T. Watson. London. 1862.
History of the Government of the Church in
Great Britain and Ireland.
Bishop Lloyd. London. 1703.
Ancient British Church. John Pryce. London.
1878. Church History of Britain. Thomas Fuller. London. 1868.
History of the Church; A. D. 305-445.
Socrates.
History of the Ancient Piedmont Church.
Allix. London. 1690.
History of the Puritans. Daniel Neale. 1855.
Treatise on the Sabbath. Bishop White.
London. 1635.
General History of the Baptist Denomination.
David Benedict. 1848.
History of the Welsh Baptists; A. D.
63-1770.
Baptists. T. G. Jones.
History of English Baptists. Crosby.
History of the Baptists. Thomas Armitage.
1887.
History of the Christian Church. William
Jone's. 1824.
History of the Sabbath. William B. Maxson.
1853.
Literature of the Sabbath Question. Robert
Cox, F.S.A. Scot. London. 1865.
Venerable Bede's Eccl. History of England.
J. A. Giles, D.C. L. London. 1890.
The Church in Scotland. James C. Moffat, D.
D. Philadelphia. 1882.
Celtic Scotland. William F. Skene.
Scottish History. Hector Boethius.
History of Ireland. Sylvester O'Halleron.
English in Ireland in 18th Century. Froude.
New York. 1881.
Roger de Hovedon's Annals; A. D. 732-1201.
London. 1853.
The Hermits. Charles Kingsley. 1868.
Dictionary of National Biography.
Mill Yard Publications: The Last Legacy of
J. Davis Sr. Black. London. 1869.
Genealogy of the Chamberlens. Aveling.
History of Free Churches in England. H. S.
Skeats. 1869.
History of the Baptists. Joseph Ivimey. 4
vols. 1811.1830.
Files of The Sabbath Recorder.
Bampton Lectures.
History of Sabbatarian Baptists. Mrs. Tamar
Davis.
Seventh-day Baptist Memorial.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and
Ecclesiastical Literature. Mc. & S.
Baptist Encyclopedia. Cathcart. 1881.
History of Conference. James Bailey.
History of the Sabbath. Peter Heylyn.
The Sabbatarians in Transylvania. Samuel
Kohn. 1896. (German.)
Sabbath Memorial. W. M. Jones. 1875-1890.
CORRECTIONS
VOLUME I.
Of
the following corrections, those beginning with page 30, and ending with page
113, except the one on page 78, have been submitted by Charles Henry Greene,
Esq., who in collaboration with Rev. James Lee Gamble, Ph. D., D. D., wrote the
treatise concerned.
Page 66, concerning Thomas
Bampfield.
For the statement
that "He was born in 1659 (possibly 1654) and died in 1693",
substitute the following: Thomas Bampfield (Bampfylde) was the eighth child and
youngest son of Sir John Bampfield, Bart., and Elizabeth Drake, his wife. They
had fifteen children. Thomas was born about 1618 and died October 8, 1693. He
is buried in St. Stephen's Church, Exeter. (See Bampfylde, House of Exeter, by
Robert Dymond, F. S. A. - A Period of London, England - in the Archaeological
Journal, for June, 1874, pp. 95-103, volume XXXI. For the date of Thomas
Bampfield's birth, compare with dates of birth of other children). Thomas
Bampfield says he began to observe the Sabbath about 1667. (See Bampfield's
reply to Wallace, 1693, p. 18).
Page 71, concerning Thomas
Broad.
Add the following:
Thomas Broad lived and died a rector of the Church of England. (See Anthony
Wood's Athenian Oxenensis, Vol XX, pp. (c), 593-594; Bliss's edition, 1813).
Page 77, concerning
----------- Hebden.
In Allibone's
Dictionary of Authors, he is called "Returne Hebdon." He was one of
four evangelists ordained by John Trask, while the latter was pastor of Mill
Yard Seventh Day Baptist Church.
Page 78, concerning
"Bull Stake Alley.
" This appears
to be written "Bull Steak Alley," also. Both forms are used in this
book.
Page 83, concerning Elder
Patrick McFarlane.
The reference to
Mill Yard Church in this article, as originally written are mostly from
secondary sources. A more recent personal examination of the records
themselves, by the writer, fails to reveal any Patrick McFarlane. The Patrick
McFarlane mentioned in the Minutes of the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
of some forty years ago, lived in Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A., being a member of
the Jackson Centre Church.
Page 92, concerning Robert
Smith.
For "Robert
Smith".. read "Richard Smith." It is not known that Robert Smith
was an observer of the Seventh Day Sabbath. Richard Smith, however, was a
prominent member of Mill Yard Church. A "Brother Smith" died in 1714,
supposed to be this Richard Smith. He was a member here as early as 1654.
Page 96, concerning Edward
Stennett.
For the statement
"Rev. Edward Stennett died at Wallingford in 1690", substitute the
following: It is known that a summons for the arrest of Rev. Edward Stennett
was issued by the Ecclesiastical Court in 1691, and Rev. William H. Black,
after a careful examination of the evidence available, expressed the belief
that Rev. Edward Stennett was living as late as May 6, 1705.
Page 107, concerning
Edmund Townsend.
Qualify the
statement that "On December 3, 1727, he was ordained as the successor of
Joseph Stennett, 1st." by the following: "The records of the Mill
Yard Church show that Edmund Townsend was ordained as an evangelist, by the
Natton Church, in 1722, Sometime before June 3rd. In their extreme
congregational independence, it not infrequently happened that the English
Seventh Day Baptists ignored a former ordination. A like case was that of
Robert Cornthwaite, who was ordained pastor of Mill Yard Church, March 8,
1726-7, although he was already an ordained Baptist minister when he embraced
the Sabbath. This custom prevailed among Seventh Day Baptist churches in
America in their earlier history. A sort of official succession seems to have
been followed, beginning with Deacon, Evangelist, next Elder, and finally
Pastor."
Page 111, concerning Elder
------ Wheaton.
The edition of the
Baptist Cyclopedia cited here, is that edited by William Cathcart, in 1881. The
letter referred to, was written to Elder Wheaton by Thomas Hollis the year
before his death.
Page 112, concerning
William Whiston.
The following is
gleaned from the New International Encyclopaedia (New York, 1904): In 1701,
William Whiston was appointed deputy to Sir Isaac Newton, and in 1703 he was
appointed to succeed him in Lucasian professorship at Cambridge. In 1715 he
instituted a society in London for promoting primitive Christianity, and the
meetings were held at his home. This society, it is but fair to assume, under
all the circumstances was a Seventh Day Baptist Church. Whether it was
continued after his death does not appear.
Page 113, at the bottom
of the page
Add the following:
"The ancient Mill Yard Seventh Day Baptist Church, at the date of this
writing - June, 1909 - meets in Mornington Hall, Canonbury Lane, Islington,
London, North, where the pastor, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas W. Richardson,
conducts the regular weekly service on every Sabbath afternoon.
Lieutenant-Colonel Richardson is also, by recent appointment, pastor of the
ancient Natton Church.
